NEW YORK: UN chief Antonio Guterres has said the world is racing toward a climate change catastrophe, dismissing the present world response as unhappily insufficient.
The UN chief said that policies about climate change currently adopted will lead to average temperatures 2.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times by the end of the century, about twice the UN target of a 1.5-degree increase. The UN chief told a news conference, “That spells disaster. Yet the collective response remains pathetic,”.
UN chief slams ‘Pitiful’ global response to challenge of climate change
The UN Secretary-General said, “We are plunging towards catastrophe, eyes wide open — with far too many prepared to bet it all on wishful thinking, unverified technologies, and silver bullet solutions. It is time to wake up and step up,”.
He added: “Nations are far off-track in meeting climate pledges and obligations. I see a lack of motivation, trust, support, and cooperation. And plenty of complications around clarity and credibility.”
The UN chief said the 1.5-degree target is “still possible,” if the drive against the challenge of climate change is accelerated. He called out the oil and gas industry’s 4 trillion-dollar net income the previous year.
Guterres said, “Yet for every dollar it spends on gas and oil exploration, only four cents went to clean energy and carbon capture.”
